Pinch grip and proper form on Trango RP

[jetjackson]

Just wondering what the best form is on the pinch grip on the trango, both the wide and narrow?

See below a picture of my right hand on the grip during a session. Do you lower your hand so that no tips of the fingers are slightly overhanging the top of the grip?

Where is the pressure on your fingers - I find that the pressure on my fingers in the middle, and proximal, rather than distal. Should I be trying to get the pressure on the pads on distal phalanx?

Also, as I fatigue, I tend to bend the thumb and push into the side of the thumb into the back of the pinch hold - assuming this is bad form? - you can see I am doing this in the picture below.




Does anyone have a link to pictures of good form for all the grips on the trango?

[jessebruni]

Personally I prefer a slight amount of "cheat" on the wide pinch by having my middle two fingers extend ever so slightly over the top of the pinch. I prefer this for 2 reasons. The first being that it really opens up my hand more for a big wide pinch, and the second being that I feel like I fail the pinch grip often due to a loss of friction, rather than a loss of strength. I can't chalk up in time for repeaters so by the time I'm on my 4th or 5th rep my hands are usually a little sweaty and I'll slide right off the pinch even if I'm not spent yet. By utilizing a slight cheat I can really bear down with my thumbs and I feel like I fail due to fatigue rather than conditions.

That's my personal opinion anyway. It could also be a bit biased because I sanded waaaay too much texture off the pinches.

[jetjackson]

Thanks, Yeah we have the same issue with humidity here, I really have to go hard on my thumbs to stay on.


What is the climb in your pic btw?

[jessebruni]

That's Jesus Wept at the RRG. Super fun route!

[jetjackson]

Nice! I'll be back in the Red again next year, but will probably be pushing it to crack the 5.12d barrier.

[MarkAnderson]

You can use it however you want obviously, but I think it's missing the point to let your fingers wrap around the lip of the pinch surface. As far as what your thumb is doing, I really don't think it matters as long as it's reasonably ergonomic and you're using it in a manner similar to what you might do outside. If you would roll your thumb for better purchase outside, then why not do it here?

That said, whenever you are stressing a "finger" in a lateral direction there is high risk of injuring a collateral ligament. My concern with using the side of your thumb is that you may damage or irritate the collateral ligaments in your distal thumb joint. So be careful with that.

[jonfrisby]

I end up doing what you're talking about with the thumb, Mark, and you're right. My thumb often feels sore in a way that I don't love when doing this. I think a deeper thumb pocket would be a useful way of dealing with this.

[MarkAnderson]

I take it this is only a problem with the medium pinch? I would think the wide pinch would be too wide to use your thumb that way.

[jonfrisby]

I can grip a basketball. It happens on the wide pinch. you've clearly never met my lobster claws

[slimshaky]

holy man hands batman!

i grip the big pinch with a bit of the sideways thumb also. this kind of stems from there being a lot of different ways to pinch something. i was bouldering at the gym and struggling on a pinch style problem. i saw a gal do the problem and asked how she was holding the pinch. she had her thumb really curled up and was using the inside of the first knuckle. at first i thought she was on drugs, then i realized she was pretty clever. i tried it and it worked pretty well. less leverage going against you i think is the main thing.

[jonfrisby]

Sept 29, 2015 9:31:59 GMT -7 slimshaky said:

holy man hands batman!

i grip the big pinch with a bit of the sideways thumb also. this kind of stems from there being a lot of different ways to pinch something. i was bouldering at the gym and struggling on a pinch style problem. i saw a gal do the problem and asked how she was holding the pinch. she had her thumb really curled up and was using the inside of the first knuckle. at first i thought she was on drugs, then i realized she was pretty clever. i tried it and it worked pretty well. less leverage going against you i think is the main thing.

Haha! yeah that seems similar to how a meathook can be better than a open hand on slopers given a particular direction of pull

[MarkAnderson]

Is a "meathook" the same as a "false grip"?

[jonfrisby]

Yeah I think so

[Ben C.]

Sept 28, 2015 12:35:13 GMT -7 jetjackson said:

Nice! I'll be back in the Red again next year, but will probably be pushing it to crack the 5.12d barrier.

If you can boulder V4 and don't mind 2 finger pockets Jesus Wept is for you. It's generally considered somewhat soft for the grade. If you are climbing anywhere near that range and have the chance I'd recommend giving it a shot. If nothing else it gives you a longer term goal to shoot for. There's a reason it's one of the most often searched routes on red river climbing.

Cheers,
Ben

[jessebruni]

Sept 28, 2015 14:32:39 GMT -7 MarkAnderson said:

You can use it however you want obviously, but I think it's missing the point to let your fingers wrap around the lip of the pinch surface

I agree, unfortunately since I can't cool my kitchen/laundry room/dining room/living room where my HB is setup (did I mention I live in a 1 bedroom apartment?) down to 50 degrees before hangboarding, and since I sanded way more texture off the pinch than I reasonably should have it's kind of my only option if I want to actually stress my thumb flexors. Otherwise I slide off due to sweaty fingers but my thumb flexors and forearms barely feel stressed, much less worked. With a slight cheat I can really squeeze the crap outta them and don't have to worry as much about randomly sliding off. 

Next time I won't sand as much.